23. Softball – 17-39 overall, 1-20 ACC, coach resigns after less than two years on the job. Ouch.
22. Men’s golf – Best finish of the year was a 6th place, 9th out 11 teams in ACC. Not good.
21. Wrestling – Sub .500 overall and in conference, handful of individual achievements. This program is improving, but …
20. Women’s Basketball – Awful ACC record, several bad losses, decent run in postseason. Not last, but not climbing fast.
19. Football – Bad losses to Western Michigan and ECU left UVa out of the bowl picture. Still, the team salvaged a .500 ACC record when things looked bleak early in the season. Regardless, this is the money maker and it should never be this low on the list. Let’s hope ’06 is an exception to the rule.
18. Women’s Track and Field – Individual athletes show promise, but depth prevents any real noise.
17. Women’s Golf – Won an event for the first time so this fledgling program gets a boost up the charts. Had the Cavs gained one spot at the NCAA Regional, they climb several spots. For what its worth, this is another team that was bitten by the injury bug (even though it doesn’t affect the rankings on this list).
16. Women’s Tennis – Another injury challenged group, these Hoos rise on the charts for their mild postseason success. Remember, this team got an NCAA nod with a .500 record … think the volleyball would’ve liked similar treatment?
15. Men’s Track and Field – Several individuals posted strong seasons, even pulling in some All-American honors. Still, some consideration has to be given to how the team finishes and those results were mediocre in comparison to many of the other Cavalier programs.
14. Volleyball – This is the team I feel the worst about. 23-8 overall with a 16-6 ACC record that placed the Hoos second in the league; of course, the conference’s strength is what kept them out of the NCAA Tournament. I wanted to bump them higher, but the rest of the list had some postseason accolades that leaves the v-ballers right here. This was still a strong effort for the program.
13. Women’s Soccer – One wonders if this average record is a prelude to something bigger in ’07? We’ll see. Still, youth, inexperience, injuries, offensive consistency, etc. left this team hovering a little above .500. These Cavs did put it together in the NCAA tourney to reach the Sweet 16 and that gets you near the top half of this list.
12. Women’s Swimming and Diving – In my opinion, one of the tougher teams to place in this exercise. A good record in dual meets with a decent ACC Championship finish earns points. Several individuals swam well.
11. Field Hockey – There’s no way this team cracks the top 10 based on a mini-surge in a small postseason field. Listen, these Hoos saved a sinking ship with a good season that featured an NCAA Tournament win. Keep in mind, however, that the field for the final event only fields 16 teams and that there are less than 100 programs in all of Division I – I’m betting there’s a wide gap between the top 20 and the bottom half as well. Basically: Nice job, but there are a lot of strong programs at UVa.
10. Men’s XC – The distance programs at Virginia continue to steadily climb, resulting in a top 15 NCAA finish. That’s an impressive feat for this group and it lands the team in the top 10 here.
9. Women’s XC – As Vandy points out, symmetry at its best. The women also posted a great NCAA finish and added a team title to boot at the Lou Onesty.
8. Men’s Lacrosse – The biggest mover in comparison to Vandy-Hoo. The team lost early in the NCAA Tournament, but other than that, this was a strong season. A total of 11 goals led to the only four losses, three of which came to Final Four teams (2 to Duke and 1 to Delaware). Several individuals take home honors. Trust me, losing to the Hens was a bad loss but that doesn’t make a bad season.
7. Baseball – 45-16 and ranked in the top 10 throughout. An incredibly strong season got derailed at the last possible moment. Still, as with the lacrosse team, you have to take into consideration who delivered the losses. In this team’s case, the defending and eventual repeat National Champion (Oregon State) ended the postseason for the Cavs.
6. Men’s Swimming and Diving – A good season for this program is almost a given, but the team didn’t win the ACC Championship. These Hoos did grab a 16th place finish at the NCAA meet, but I didn’t consider that as impressive as a top 32 in basketball (there are less than 150 DI teams for swimming and more than 300 for hoops). Regardless, some individuals swam well and this team belongs near the top.
5. Men’s Basketball – Dave Leitao’s group makes the top 5 thanks to a great season from beginning to end. These Hoos lost just once at home, shared the ACC Regular Season Championship, and finished in the top 32 (NCAA second round) nationally. Throw in the individual honors for J.R. Reynolds and the returning Sean Singletary .
4. Men’s Soccer – 18-3-1 overall with an above .500 record in the tough ACC, where this team was the regular season co-champion. Plus, the Hoos returned to the Final Four. Several individuals earned recognition in what was a very good season.
3. Women’s Lacrosse – Talk about a tough list! These Hoos won the ACC Tournament and finished as the national runner-up, losing to three-peat National Champion Northwestern. In total, two of the four losses came to Final Four teams. Lots of individual hardware too. Well done.
2. Women’s Rowing – Another great year for a consistently strong program. One boat won the National Championship and there is a lot of individual hardware being displayed in C’ville right now. Only one team could top it …
1. Men’s Tennis – I know this is a one year list, but Brian Boland’s group takes the top spot for historical significance purposes. From a history standpoint, no ACC team had ever reached the NCAA Final Four. UVa did. No ACC player had ever won the National Championship. Somdev Devvarman did. Plus, there’s the “who’d you lose to” factor and the team lost in the Final Four to the eventual champ. Impressive.